Current:Home > MyLouisiana prisoner suit claims they’re forced to endure dangerous conditions at Angola prison farm -Clarity Finance Guides
Louisiana prisoner suit claims they’re forced to endure dangerous conditions at Angola prison farm
View
Date:2025-04-19 00:37:15
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Men incarcerated at Louisiana State Penitentiary filed a class-action lawsuit Saturday, contending they have been forced to work in the prison’s fields for little or no pay, even when temperatures soar past 100 degrees. They described the conditions as cruel, degrading and often dangerous.
The men, most of whom are Black, work on the farm of the 18,000-acre maximum-security prison known as Angola -- the site of a former slave plantation -- hoeing, weeding and picking crops by hand, often surrounded by armed guards, the suit said. If they refuse to work or fail to meet quotas, they can be sent to solitary confinement or otherwise punished, according to disciplinary guidelines.
“This labor serves no legitimate penological or institutional purpose,” the suit said. “It’s purely punitive, designed to ‘break’ incarcerated men and ensure their submission.”
It names as defendants Angola’s warden, Timothy Hooper, and officials with Louisiana’s department of corrections and its money-making arm, Prison Enterprises.
A spokesman for the department of correction and an attorney for the department did not immediately provide comment on the suit.
The United States has historically locked up more people than any other country, with more than 2.2 million inmates in federal and state prisons, jails and detention centers. They can be forced to work because the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery after the Civil War, made an exception for those “duly convicted” of a crime.
The plaintiffs include four men who formerly or are currently working in the fields, along with Voice of the Experienced, an organization made up of current and formerly incarcerated people, around 150 of whom are still at Angola.
The suit said the work is especially dangerous for those with disabilities or health conditions in the summer months, with temperatures reaching up to 102 degrees in June, with heat indexes of up to 145.
Some of the plaintiffs have not been given the accommodations and services they are entitled to under the Americans with Disabilities Act, it said.
These men are forced to work “notwithstanding their increased risk of illness or injury,” the suit said.
It asserts the field work also violates their 8th Amendment rights to be free of cruel and unusual punishment, and that some plaintiffs in the suit were sentenced by non-unanimous juries and therefore were not “duly convicted” within the meaning of the 13th Amendment.
The men — represented by the legal advocacy organizations Promise of Justice Initiative and Rights Behind Bars — are asking the court to declare that work they are forced to do is unconstitutional and to require the state to end its generations-long practice of compulsory agricultural labor.
veryGood! (2358)
Related
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- Will Levis injury update: Titans QB hurts shoulder vs. Dolphins
- A battered child care industry’s latest challenge? Competing for 4-year-olds.
- Dead inmate identified as suspect in 1995 disappearance of 6-year-old Morgan Nick
- The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
- Will anyone hit 74 homers? Even Aaron Judge thinks MLB season record is ‘a little untouchable’
- Days after Hurricane Helene, a powerless mess remains in the Southeast
- Harris will tour Helene devastation in Georgia, North Carolina as storm scrambles campaign schedule
- Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
- Endearing Behind-the-Scenes Secrets About Bluey You'll Love For Real Life
Ranking
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Walz misleadingly claims to have been in Hong Kong during period tied to Tiananmen Square massacre
- What should I do when an employee's performance and attitude decline? Ask HR
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs appeals judge's denial of his release from jail on $50 million bond
- Trump's 'stop
- Mountain terrain, monstrous rain: What caused North Carolina's catastrophic flooding
- Lady Gaga Details “Amazing Creative Bond” With Fiancé Michael Polansky
- John Amos, patriarch on ‘Good Times’ and an Emmy nominee for the blockbuster ‘Roots,’ dies at 84
Recommendation
A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
Sean 'Diddy' Combs appeals judge's denial of his release from jail on $50 million bond
'The civil rights issue of our generation'? A battle over housing erupts in Massachusetts
Fantasy football waiver wire: 10 players to add for NFL Week 5
New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
Hailey Bieber Pays Tribute to Late Virgil Abloh With Behind-the-Scenes Look at Her Wedding Dress
'No one was expecting this': Grueling searches resume in NC: Helene live updates
US job openings rise to 8 million as labor market remains sturdy